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M E S S A G E F R O M R E V D . D R . S A M W E L L S
R E F L E C T I N G O N S T M A R T I N ’ S C H O I R V I S I T

Visit from St Martin-in-the-Fields

to St Mary’s Cathedral, Johannesburg

September 2018

representing classical, jazz and African influences, together making a
memorable melody. There was a wonderful sense of giving and re-
ceiving in equal measure, each offering what only they could bring,

recognising that what the others brought took years of practice, team-
REVD. DR. SAM WELLS work and training.

Vicar of St Martin’s Church, London. Because St Mary’s is a Cathedral, it was appropriate to experience
the wider diocese and all the things it offered to learn, grow and dis-
cover. The choir had profound encounters in Sophiatown, Alexandra,
In 2015 I visited St Mary’s Cathedral and the people of St Mary’s put
and Soweto. They spent time with schoolchildren at St John’s and
to me that we should revive the partnership between our two church-
es that had first been established 25 years ago, at the time of the later at Kwasa College. The Dean gave us exceptional hospitality at
transition of power in South Africa. Since then Dean Xolani and mem- his residence and again at his mother’s home in Soweto. There were
bers of the St Mary’s congregation have visited St Martin’s twice, also extraordinarily educational visits to the Apartheid Museum and to
while Revd Richard Carter, along with members of St Martin’s Voices, the Constitutional Hill at Braamfontein.
came to Johannesburg in 2017. Thus when I visited in September
2018 with the Choir of St Martin-in-the-Fields our path was well- The worship at Holy Cross, Soweto will stay long in my memory. The
trodden and our welcome was assured. chorus before the sermon was like nothing I’ve known before. Moved
by the worship and the significance of what was taking place, I began
For me a partnership is not about having things in common, it’s about my remarks by kneeling before the congregation, saying, ‘I kneel be-
celebrating our differences. The most obvious thing about our recent fore you because you have taught the church how to be faithful amid
visit was the contrasting musical styles. The St Martin’s choir is suffering, because you are the body of Christ, because people who
groomed in the Western choral tradition, particularly the Anglican way look and talk like me have got many things wrong in this country, be-
of worship and singing. What the choir discovered on its travels were cause you have known the reality of crucifixion and are discovering
fabulous, inspiring and exuberant traditions, mostly without written the complexity of resurrection.’
music, but with roots deep in the soul of the suffering and joy of the
people of South Africa, but there are other differences. Since we customarily kneel before the blessed sacrament, since it is
the body of Christ, I believed it was appropriate to kneel before the
church, since it too is the body of Christ. To me the most important
The neighbourhood around St Mary’s is very challenging, and in many
ways sums up the complexity of post-apartheid South Africa. Everyone word in the English language, the word that sums up the gospel, is
longs for rapid change, and for the neighbourhood to flourish as it “with” Jesus is God being with us that we might be with God forever.
hasn’t done in a long time. That’s going to require economic initiative In this partnership between our two churches, we are discovering the
dimensions of that word “with”.
and collective determination from government, business and civil
society. By contrast St Martin’s is on one of the most visited public
squares in the world; and yet terrorism has struck close several times L O N G M A Y W E C O N T I N U E T O D O S O .
in recent years, and an attack is always possible. We face different
challenges; but those differences make for lively conversations.

In many ways the two events at St Mary’s on Sunday 30 September
epitomised the visit. In the morning we shared communion together,
each of us adapting to our hosts’ and our guests’ ways of doing things,
becoming more than the sum of our parts. In the afternoon the St
Martin’s choir sang in sequence alongside the Quava Vocal Group, the
Ionian Strings Ensemble, and Soweto Melodic Voices together

The Cathedral of St Mary the Virgin - Newsletter I page 10